LONDON - TWENTY TWELVE

August 8th, 2012

It’s official: Canada is not alone in dealing with Olympic referee problems .....

LONDON — Christine Sinclair, the Canadian superhero, summarized what happened with an undeniable clarity: “It’s a shame in a game like that that was so important, the ref decided the result before it started.”

Sinclair had just scored three goals against the United States in an Olympic semi-final, but the force of her strength was limited to opposing players, and not the referee. As it turned out, the referee was an equally worthy foe.

Norwegian referee Christiana Pedersen set Canadian players, soccer fans and even some more casual observers aflame on Monday with a series of bizarre calls that ultimately led the Americans to a 4-3 win and a trip to the gold-medal game. Canada will have to play for bronze.